A Bristol childminder has been rapped by watchdogs for letting youngsters play near rat traps, a big pile of ladders and other hazards in the garden. The Staple Hill woman and her assistant put children at “significant risk” by allowing them to play with “dirty, stagnant water that contains algae” while toy pedal cars are covered with sawdust containing bird muck, inspectors found.
Ofsted says it intends to take enforcement action and has issued a welfare requirements notice ordering urgent improvements, while giving the lowest rating of “inadequate” in every category, including overall. Its report, published on Wednesday, March 9, said the safety and welfare of the dozen kids aged three to 10 in the nanny’s care was “compromised”.
The findings said: “The childminder and her assistant put children at significant risk as they do not identify risks that are in the garden. They do not clean the resources or check the garden before they allow children to go outside to play.
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“The childminder has hazardous rodent traps situated where children play. The childminder allows children to play with dirty, stagnant water that contains algae. The ride-on toy cars that children play with have sawdust over them which contains bird faeces.
“The childminder does not recognise the health and safety implications for children. This is despite previous concerns being raised at the last inspection about the childminder's ability to risk assess and keep children safe. Children play on the scooters close to where the childminder has items such as ladders that are stacked up high and pose a risk of falling.”
The report said safeguarding arrangements were not effective and the woman, who has not been named but looks after youngsters at her home in Staple Hill, failed to keep a record of the times youngsters arrived and left so did not have an accurate attendance record. It said she did not provide a challenging curriculum that extended children’s learning or prepared them for school.
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But the report added: “Children are confident and they behave well. They know the routines that are in place and happily tidy away the toys when they have finished playing with them. Parents say that they are happy with the care that their children receive.
"They say that their children enjoy going to the childminder's house and have friends that attend.” Ofsted’s welfare notice requires the provider to ensure the premises and resources are safe, hygienic and suitable for children and to improve understanding of risk assessment to ensure hazards are identified and removed swiftly.
Attendance times must be maintained and a curriculum provided that offers “challenging experiences for children across all areas of learning and development”. Inspectors, who visited on February 1, gave inadequate ratings for overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour & attitudes, personal development and leadership & management.
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